I wouldn't exactly call this groundbreaking, but AMD reports an 0.1% increase in market share against rival CPU manufacturer Intel Corp. Intel has had great success lately, reaping the rewards of a product which actually performs.  Read more »

Apologies for the lack of updates recently; I have been muy ocupado this week. During a brief news catchup this afternoon, I happened upon a rather insightful article into the state of high-tech toiletry. Yes, you heard me - toiletry. Apparently there is quite a large market for programmable toilets - as they are called - in Japan, and manufacturer Toto hopes to broaden their reach to western shores.  Read more »

Just some quick technology news before I return to my studious activities.

• Scientists in Japan have created a metallic exoskeleton designed to facilitate movement and interface machine-assisted labour. The movie is very cool (Mechwarrior here we come).
• Black hole ripples to the tune of Bb - 54 octaves below the lowest key on a Piano!
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Just some quick news bytes before I return to my riveting pursuits. The gallery has also been updated with a few new pictures of the Freehills debating final, Julian Burnside's public lecture, and other university events.

• TCP/IP your days are numbered: this new bongo drum protocol looks set to revolutionise data transfer (not).
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I've never seen the point of those desktop replacement laptops. They weigh at least several of your least favourite units of mass, are less capable than a similarly-priced desktop PC, and cost far, far more.  Read more »

Further to my previous post, there are some interesting new developments in the portable technology field which have caught the attention of many in the online tech community:

• Hard drive 'airbags': IBM has developed a way to cushion laptop hard drives against sudden shock or impact in an attempt to curb one of the most common causes of laptop failure.
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First up, a hilarious Dr Seuss satire site, showcasing the finest Seuss parodies of the web. My favourites are 'Freud on Seuss', 'The new Testament According to Dr Seuss', 'If Dr Seuss Wrote for Star Trek', and - of course - 'Deconstructing Dr Seuss' (rather amusing).  Read more »

Max Lyons has created some terrific panoramic images, each comprised of a matrix containing several hundred digital photographs. The individual shots are assembled, processed, and rerendered using software to correctly align and recolour each image to give the illusion of a single photo.  Read more »

After a period of inactivity, market leaders Intel and AMD have announced new processors with larger cache sizes and marginally improved clock speed, signalling the next iteration of the perennial battle for clock speed and performance.  Read more »

The Electronic Frontier Foundation has today published The Endangered Gizmos List, a collection of products and technologies — some facing litigation, some extinct as a result — all threatened by restrictive copyright laws and the aggressive litigation strategies of copyright-holders in the entertainment industry.  Read more »

Law.com has published an interesting interview recently conducted by the New York Law Journal with several leading figures in nanotechnology research. They discuss the potential impact (which is, needless to say, huge) of nanoscale technological developments on law and society. With investor capital approaching USD $1bn in 2005, there is likely to be significant and imminent progress in this dynamic area of science:  Read more »

‘Remember TPG’s $26.95/month ADSL plan that cost at least $42.85/month due to hidden data charges? Or Telstra’s ‘Broadband Amnesties’ in the face of complaints about unfair terms and conditions? Or ISP contracts forbidding customers from complaining to the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman?’  Read more »

Years ago, the difference between operating systems was stark. But as Windows and Mac systems have grown similar over the past few years, will differentiation come down to marketing?

Originally by NewsFactor Network, 12:25 PM

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You could say that Beijing's Baidu.com Inc., the little search engine that could, exploded onto the Nasdaq on Friday. The $108 million IPO wasn't as big as Google's but it generated just about as much buzz. Analysts say the "competition is going to be intensifying." Lawsuits could also loom for Baidu, with the company and Yahoo's 3721 unit hurling unfair competition charges at each other for the past seven months. Baidu may also face copy infringement complaints  Read more »

The search giant suspends its work to convert millions of copyrighted books into digital format and gives publishers a chance to opt out of the project. Book publishers' concerns do not appear to have been alleviated.

Originally by Wired News: Top Stories, 12:22 PM

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'Opera has released a version of its web browser with the BitTorrent client built in. Users clicking on a Torrent file will see the file load in Opera's traditional Transfer window, so for most file transfers, there's no need to install a third-party BitTorrent client':  Read more »

A global race is under way to reach the next milestone in supercomputer performance, and the customary rivalry between the US and Japan now includes China.

Originally by NYT > Technology, 4:23 PM

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'Google plans to raise US$4.185bn in new capital by offering 14 200 000 new shares, boosting its short term cash pile by around 75 per cent.

In addition to working capital, Google cites 'possible acquisitions of complementary businesses, technologies or other assets' as reasons for the share issue in a SEC-1 filing. On Monday the company said it might need to raise cash for buying technology licenses or acquisitions.

Originally by The Register - Internet and Law: eCommerce, 1:46 PM  Read more »

'The task of navigating the Internet to locate the most comprehensive and current legal information in support of legal tasks can be a daunting one [Ed: not really! Between Lexis, WestLaw, HeinOnline and ComLaw, 95 per cent of materials are accessible within 30 seconds if you know where to look]. Virtual law library sites can provide accurate and user-friendly material. However, Internet librarian Dan Giancaterino cautions not to cancel Westlaw or Lexis just yet, advising not to 'believe everything you find on the Web; and don't assume everything is online.'  Read more »

Retail e-commerce sales in the United States have jumped 26 per cent from their previous levels, to $21.1 billion in the second quarter. This represents considerable spending and points to the need for sale of goods legislation to be reformed to address novel issues in cyberspace.

Originally by WSJ.com: What's News Technology, 3:14 PM  Read more »

Google plans to introduce an instant-messaging service that lets users make voice calls with their computers, raising the stakes in its battle with Microsoft and other tech giants.

Originally by WSJ.com: What's News Technology, 12:08 PM

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'The World Wide Web Consortium ('W3C') is protesting a proposal by the U.S. Copyright Office that may temporarily require that online forms be submitted via the Microsoft Internet Explorer browser. "The proposed system would be contrary to at least the spirit of federal information policy adopted by the E-Government Act of 2002," said W3C Director Tim Berners-Lee and Daniel Weitzner,who is technology and society domain leader at W3C, in a letter to the office. The office's proposal pertains to preregistration of copyright claims.  Read more »

'Don't expect Bono to descend from a cloud. Or orgasmic praise from the Wall Street Journal's Walt Mossberg. When PlayLouder quietly rolls out its music service in the UK, it won't initially match the razzle-dazzle of the iTunes Music Store launch, Rhapsody or the other million dollar marketing blitzes.'

Originally by The Register - Internet and Law: Wild Wild Web, 9:46 PM  Read more »

'Google is the new Microsoft, reckons author Gary Rivlin in a New York Times article provocatively titled Relax, Bill Gates; It's Google's Turn as the Villain.'

Originally by The Register - Internet and Law: Wild Wild Web, 9:47 PM

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It looks like the rumors of eBay buying Skype were grounded in fact, as the companies confirmed the transaction today. The question is, how does Skype's business fit into eBay?

Originally by Ars Technica, 8:46 PM

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